Abstract

A CONCEPTUAL REVIEW ON THE UNDERSTANDING OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS IN AYURVEDA

Athira C. K.*, Shrilatha Kamath T.

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Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common form of inflammatory arthritis, occurring throughout the world in all ethnic group. It is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease with varying severity among patients. The cause of the disease is still unknown. RA initially affects small joints, progressing to larger joints, and eventually the skin, eyes, heart, kidneys, and lungs. It imposes a substantial socioeconomic burden on individuals and is one of the challenging disorders for the clinicians due to its chronicity, incurability and morbidity. As contemporary medical science aims at relieving the signs and symptoms of the disease by administering NSAIDS, analgesics etc. Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine explains well about joint disorders. This article is a simple attempt to explore the Ayurvedic perspective on rheumatoid arthritis through an analysis of its causative factors, pathology, clinical features and prognosis, while considering Vatarakta, Amavata and Samavata.

Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Vatarakta, Amavata, Samavata.